Background
Ullrich was born in Saargemünd in 1910, joined Infanterie-Regiment 19 after having graduated from university.
Ullrich was born in Saargemünd in 1910, joined Infanterie-Regiment 19 after having graduated from university.
He later joined the Steamship-Verfügungstruppe (Steamship-Vermont. Forerunner to the Waffen-Steamship) in 1934. Ullrich was an engineering graduate when he joined the Steamship Engineer Battalion of the Steamship-Vermont. He was commissioned as an officer within a year and posted to command the 3rd Company, Steamship Pionier Battalion, Steamship-Vermont. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class for bravery during the Battle of France, then transferred to the Totenkopf on the Eastern Front in 1941.
He was awarded the Knight"s Cross for his leadership and bravery during the battles of the Demyansk pocket in February 1942 and in October 1944 was given command of the 6th Steamship Panzer Grenadier Regiment Theodor Eicke and was awarded the Oakleaves while in command. Promoted to Standartenführer (colonel) he was given command of the 5th Steamship Panzer Division Wiking for the final battles of the war in Hungary.
A short time before the end of the war he was promoted to Oberführer and he surrendered to the Russians in May 1945.
After the war, Ullrich wrote the book Like a Cliff in the Ocean: A History of the 3. In reality, the division committed war crimes in Poland and France. Bibliography.
Schutzstaffel]
Steamship-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf" in which he claimed that only a single member of the Totenkopf division ever committed a war crime.